Down to Business
by Laurus Nobilis
Summary: Touya and Yukito always wondered why they didn't have to pay for their house. Yuuko has an answer, but they're noy sure they like it. Card Captor Sakura and xxxHOLiC crossover


**Disclaimer:** Card Captor Sakura and xxxHOLiC belong to CLAMP.

**Author's Notes:** This one takes place in the same continuity as my story "Meeting", but it works as a stand alone too.

Also, as most of you probably noticed, Tsubasa contradicts some things that CLAMP had stated in CCS. When the two canons overlap, I chose to go with the CCS version; that's the fandom I'm writing in, after all.

* * *

**Down to Business**

It was a warm, sunny afternoon. They had spent the whole day working on the garden, getting the new plants in place and taking care of the old ones. It looked far from perfect, of course. It looked like the garden of two young men with different tastes in flowers. That was exactly what they had expected, and they were quite happy about the results. It had been a wonderful day, one of those rare occasions when nothing at all goes wrong.

In retrospect, Touya thought he should have realized that something was about to go wrong any minute then.

"Good afternoon, boys!" a cheerful voice said behind them.

Touya turned around, shocked by the familiarity – he was sure that voice didn't belong to anyone he knew – and found himself face to face with a very beautiful woman with perfect clothes and perfect hair who couldn't have been _walking_, considering how fresh she looked. But he hadn't heard any cars pass by, and there was no car on the street now.

Yuki turned around, too. And then his eyes widened in shock.

"... do we know each other?" he asked, as politely as he could. Judging from his expression, Touya had the feeling that inside of his boyfriend's head, Yue's voice was going _oh yes we most certainly do_.

"More or less," the woman replied, smiling, and confirming his suspicions. "My name is Yuuko Ichihara. I've been waiting to meet you for a long time, Tsukishiro."

"Um," Yuki said. Touya didn't feel any more eloquent than him.

"And you too, Kinomoto, of course. So don't be jealous," she continued, as if the situation was completely normal. "So! Aren't you going to ask why I'm here?"

Touya sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Let me guess," he said. "Does it by any chance have to do with Clow Reed?"

For a brief second, he would have sworn he saw the woman's smile twitch just a little.

"Sort of," she told him. "You know, this conversation would be a lot more comfortable if you invited me in, don't you think?"

"Oh – of course!" Yuki said, suddenly looking very embarrassed. "Please, do come in. I guess we were a little... surprised."

"Oh, I bet _Yue_ is surprised," she said with a smirk as she crossed the garden. "But don't worry. I'm not going to suck your blood or anything, so there's no need to fret. I'm here to do you guys a favour."

"... a _favour_?" Touya asked, lifting an eyebrow. Ichihara smirked at him.

"Sort of."

**o O o**

The situation _didn't_ get more comfortable once they were inside. While Yuki went to the kitchen to bring some drinks, Ichihara just sat down and proceeded to stare at Touya for a whole minute.

"What is it?" he asked at last, arms crossed, and deciding that in this case he didn't care at all about being polite to guests.

"You do all look alike, you know," she mused. "I wonder how you'd look with glasses..."

"Like Dad," he replied, and then realized what he'd just said. "Oh."

Luckily, Yuki came back with the drinks before the situation became even _more_ embarrassing. He brought a beer for Ichihara, even though she hadn't actually told them what she wanted. Touya suspected that Yue remembered a lot more than he was willing to let on.

"So," the woman said, after taking a long sip of her drink, "let's get to business, shall we?"

"But... which business?" Yuki asked. Only someone who knew him as well as Touya would have noticed he was struggling to be polite. "You still haven't told us why are you here."

"I'm getting there, don't be impatient," she told him. "I came to talk to you about this house. Haven't you ever wondered why you never needed to pay anything? No taxes, nothing at all? Or where does the money for your food and clothes come from?"

Touya and Yuki exchanged a look. They _had_ wondered about that, many times. It was one of the few strange happenings in their lives that hadn't been explained after Sakura's ordeal with the Cards was over. They had come to the conclusion that, at least in the beginning, it had all been part of the illusion of Yuki living with his grandparents; but they had no idea of what would happen next, and Touya's father didn't remember enough to give them an answer. Sakura didn't seem to know about it, either. She told them it would turn out all right, but Touya wasn't so sure that her invincible spell applied to money too.

"Do you mean you know what's going on with the house?" Yuki asked her, curious. Ichihara grinned.

"Of course I do. I'm the one who's been taking care of it."

Yuki blinked. Touya frowned; this didn't sound very convincing to him.

"Are you?" he said. "And why would you do that?"

"It's my job," she explained. "I grant wishes. Clow wanted your life to be as normal as possible, Tsukishiro, at least until you figured out a couple of things. So he wished you never had to worry about anything that an adult would normally solve for you, and that included taking care of the money."

"... I'm not sure I'm following you," Yuki admitted. The woman just smiled at him.

"He actually got an adult to take care of that for you," she said. "And that's yours truly."

"Well, that's great, but _why are you here_?" Touya insisted. "You didn't just come here to tell us about it."

"Ah, you're a bright one!" the woman laughed. "Of course I didn't. You see, every wish has a price. No one can gain anything without giving something just as valuable in exchange for it. And you, my dear boys, have been living for free for quite a while now."

"Wait a minute," Touya interrupted her. "You said it was Clow's wish. Why didn't _he_ pay for it?"

"Oh, but he did," Ichihara assured him. "The thing is, the price he paid only covered a few years worth of my troubles. We calculated more or less how long it would take for Sakura to capture and change all the Cards, and then we gave you a few months leeway, just in case. But that time's about to finish pretty soon, now."

"There's something I don't understand," said Yuki. "What did he think would happen after now? We both have part time jobs, but we're still studying... I don't think we could afford a house as big as this one."

"Let's just say Clow didn't get _everything_ right," she said, smirking. "He was convinced that by this point you'd have a different... ah, living arrangement, Tsukishiro. I suppose I should thank you, boys. You've made me win a bet."

Touya was about to ask her for details, but then he decided he didn't really want to know. Instead, he asked her a different question.

"Then what's the 'favour' you came to do for us? Tell us we should start looking for an apartment?"

"Not quite," she said. "I thought you could get an extension, don't you think? It would be a pity to leave such a beautiful house. And just when you've been arranging the garden, too..."

Before Touya had time to answer, there was a rustle of feathers at his side.

"_You_," said Yue, who looked very much as if he was about to explode. "You are the most shameless, materialistic, manipulative –"

"Nice to see you, too," she interrupted him. "You haven't changed a bit either. Larg says hello, by the way."

Yue twitched. Ichihara smirked. Touya had a vague feeling that perhaps he should intervene before they killed each other, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything. It was a fascinating sight. He had never seen Yue so angry – or anyone who dared to make fun of him like that, except maybe Cerberus. He could tell it wasn't something he'd get to see very often, and he was enjoying it far more than he should, considering he was involved in the whole mess too.

"This isn't the time for your jokes," said Yue at last, his voice slow and cold. "You can't extort anyone here. I _know_ you."

"Aw, you use such harsh words," she sighed. "I'm just trying to help, you know."

"Out of the sheer kindness of your heart, I'm sure."

"Of course. Do you think I want to see you stuck in a tiny apartment, when you can have all of this house?" she told him. "I couldn't be so cruel to an old friend."

"If you honestly think I will fall for your little act, after all this time..."

"What, you don't trust me?"

"I know you," Yue repeated.

"I don't," Touya chimed in, strangely amused in spite of the situation. "Anyone care to explain?"

"She's a thieving liar and she's going to ask you for one of your kidneys just because she took the trouble of coming," said Yue. Ichihara just laughed.

"Nonsense," she said, shaking her hands in the air. "All my prices are fair, my dear Yue, you know that well. And the beer is enough payment for the visit."

"Wait. You _were_ going to charge us for this?" asked Touya.

"Well, I'm working, aren't I?"

"I think I'm beginning to agree with Yue."

"Aww, you're always such a spoilsport," the witch said, sticking out her tongue at the Moon Guardian. Then she turned to look at Touya again. "But my offer remains. If you wish for it, I can let you stay in this house until you can afford to take care of it yourselves."

"Yes, but... we'd still be paying for it," Touya pointed out.

"But not with _money_," Ichihara said. He thought about it for a moment, then turned to look at Yue.

"I think Yuki should listen to this," he told him. "You'll hear everything anyway, right?"

Yue nodded, but he narrowed his eyes at the woman.

"I _still_ get a say in this, witch," he warned her.

"Oh, I know that," she replied. "I never said you shouldn't. But I think you'll get outvoted, anyway."

The Moon Guardian pressed his lips together, but in the end he chose not to say anything. He transformed again, and Yukito blinked a couple of times, confused.

"... what did I miss?" he asked them. Ichihara grinned.

"I offered to keep paying for the house, if you wish so."

"And Yue says it's all part of some evil plan to steal from us or something," Touya added. "You know, I think he's right."

"Nah, he's exaggerating," she chuckled. "I _am_ going to ask for a price, of course, that much is true. But I'm always fair, even when it doesn't look like it."

"Somehow that doesn't sound very reassuring."

"To-ya, don't be rude," Yukito chided him, and then turned to look at her again. "What kind of prices do you mean?"

"Well, it depends on the wish," she replied, taking a sip of her beer. "In this case... it's going to be something meaningful, yes. But there is more than one person living in the house, so you can afford it if you all pay something."

"Something like _what_?" Touya asked, suspicious.

"From Tsukishiro," she said, "I want that snowglobe."

She pointed at one of the few ornaments in the house. Yuki stood up to take it and then he sat down again, staring at the object in his hands. Touya had seen it many times. I was small, but very pretty; the figures inside represented a large house and an old couple. His boyfriend had told him once that it reminded him of his grandparents – or, at least, of the image he had of them. Those false memories were getting blurrier and blurrier for him.

"And... this would be enough?" Yukito asked, confused, when he looked up at her at last.

"Yes. It's an antique," Ichihara explained. "It's worth more than what it seems. But its value in money isn't the only thing that interests me."

"Yue says," he continued, "that it used to belong to Clow. That's why we have it, isn't it?"

"Indeed," she said. Suddenly her smile was much warmer. "And, in a way, it's a payment from Yue too, since he will also live here. I will give you the means to start building your own future; you must give me something from your past, be it real or imaginary. It's only fair."

Yuki didn't answer immediately. Touya took the chance to make her focus on himself for a while, giving him and Yue some time to think about it.

"And what about me?" he asked. "What should I pay for this?"

"I'd really love to make you work for me," she told him with a dangerous grin, "but the job is taken. So I have something else in mind."

"Not my bike," Touya said instinctively. The woman laughed at him, but then he saw with relief that she was shaking her head.

"No, no, it's something different," she assured him. "I want you to play the piano for me."

He blinked, surprised. How did she even _know_ about that?

"I'm... I'm very out of practice, you know. With all the studying and working and everything."

"Oh, but it doesn't have to be right now," said Ichihara. "You can practice all you want, until I call you."

"Call me?" he repeated. "You mean you're just going to randomly show up one day and ask me to play for you?"

"Right," she nodded, not ashamed in the least. "You see, my employee has many talents, but he's never had the time to learn to play a musical instrument. That's really a pity. Every man should know how to play _something_. Does your father play the piano, too?"

"No. I learned it from Mum."

"Awww. Well, I suppose he didn't have time for it either. He must have been just as busy as my Watanuki."

"_Your_ Watanuki? You make it sound as if he was your slave," Touya said, frowning. She just chuckled.

"And you sounded just like him right now," she replied. "But don't worry about him. He's better paid than he knows. As for you boys, though... what have you decided?"

Yuki gave his boyfriend a very meaningful look, nodding slightly. Touya returned the gesture. Then they turned to Ichihara once again.

"We accept the deal," Yuki told her. "Yue agrees, too – um, he says it's 'reluctantly' but I'm not sure I believe him."

"I'll do it, yeah," Touya sighed. The thought of starting to practice again after so many years was a little overwhelming, but all things considered it wasn't a bad offer at all. He had the feeling that it could have been a lot worse.

"Perfect!" Ichihara said, clapping her hands. "Then it's settled. Don't worry about money at all, until further notice. I'll take that snowglobe – and as for you, Kinomoto, I'll see you later."

"_Until further notice_?" Yuki repeated, narrowing his eyes. She just grinned at him as she walked away.

"Hey, wait a minute," Touya exclaimed. Suddenly he remembered something else. "This boy who's working for you, Watanuki? I think I've met him. I mean, at least I've met a loud, crazy kid who said he had an annoying boss. And he kind of looked like – _well_."

"Doesn't he?" Ichihara replied with a grin. "It was good for him to meet you, you know. Even if he didn't really appreciate it at the moment."

"So he's doing all right, then?"

"He'll be fine," she assured him.

"And..." Touya continued, curious, "does he really have something to do with Clow, too?"

"Top secret!" Ichihara interrupted him, laughing shamelessly at him. "No free information from now on."

Touya rolled his eyes at her.

"Yue _is_ right about you," he muttered.

"Oh, he whines too much," she said dismissively. "I'm not _that _bad."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Yuki said. But he was smiling as he spoke, and he certainly didn't seem to mean it. In any case, it didn't affect her at all.

"Goodbye, boys," she told them, waving. "And, Kinomoto, tell your father he must invite me to dinner one of these days. I'll bring the booze."

"Why booze?" Touya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, he'll need it," she grinned. "Trust me on that."


End file.
